Naruto the Hero!
by Shirosaki-Rin
Summary: Naruto is given one last chance to redeem herself, she goes back in time and changes the outcome of the war, follow HER through Her adventures and see her emotions and her adventure through time! Fem!Naruto Smart!Naruto Strong!Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

**Anyways, I'm here with another story!**

**i know I'm bad, I still haven't finished dmt other two, but I can't help it! **

**New story!**

**This is an AU fic with Fem!Naruto Smart!Naruto Minato like!Naruto.**

**And also... It's a... a...a... A Time Travel fic!**

**AND... BEGIN!**

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Prologue

In the midst of the Fourth Great Shinobi War is where our tale begins, The tale of Uzumaki Naruto, the one that will change our world as we know it.

Naruto will be considered a hero, respected by all of Shinobi and civilians, for saving them from death- Her tale begins, NOW!

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The Great War is almost at an end with the Shinobi losing, bodies scattered everywhere, and worst of all of Naruto's teammates had died except for on who was on the brink of death, Sasuke .

Naruto-chan was mourning, she had scream a blood scorching scream.

Coughing out blood Sasuke sees her distress and managed to say something "D-dobe, I have a ju-jutsu that will send you back, change everything the world and change what has happened here, save us, S-Save us all" This was unbelievable, Sasuke, the great Sasuke, was... Crying.

"Use it on yourself!" Naruto screamed holding his hand.

Sasuke chuckled "with thes-these injuries Im not going anywhere, and y-you are the only with nearly enough chakura to survive the fall" Sasuke croaked already wearing the signs for his time-space Jutsu.

"What fal-" Naruto was cut off, she was thrown into a spiral of stars watching as Sasuke was getting smaller and smaller.

"Time travel! Three years ago!" She heard Sasuke say, with he last of his strength.

He stopped breathing...

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Naruto said as she was spun into a spiral of stars, and this gave her determination, to change, everything.

Naruto was spun and spun in beautiful colors.

She had doubts about this jutsu, she feared that she would mess up and ruin everything.

But if only she knew, she was wrong, she would change everything for the better.

Suddenly she was taken out of the swirl of stars and was chucked into the air.

Naruto choked in her own spit as she saw Konoha, an unscathed Konoha, and it was then she realized that it worked and that she could help everyone, and save them.

This was her chance at redemption.

Her thoughts were cut off when she was being sucked into somewhere, she was being billed into the body of her twelve year old self.

The pain was tremendous, she couldn't take it, she screamed out in pain.

And suddenly she stood awake, in her old room.

She decided that she would check the place out tomorrow and went to sleep

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**Sort chapter but I feel it's kinda rushed, I love y'al. If R and R and fave! see ya, rin chan.**


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto woke up early that morning, getting ready to go outside to get a newspaper.

.

.

.

"Ahhhhhh!" Naruto screamed.

"Ptchat, hhahahha hahahah! Never expected to be thrown this far back in time huh, Kit!"Kurama snickered.

"B-but this is impossible! I'm uuuhhh- yeah! How am I supposed to go to class when I'm sixteen!" Naruto distressed.

"Y-you should look at yourself in the mirror" Kurama said barely containing a laugh.

Naruto walked over to the mirror and looked at herself, she was a young twelve year old girl again!

"ahhhhh this cant be happening!" she scream, shouted whatever word you call it.

"This is an Effect of the jutsu... Naruto-chan!" Kurama had mocked.

"This is bad!"

"Why is it bad?" Kurama asked?

"It's just bad!"

"No it isn't"

"Yes it is!"

"No it isn't!"

"Ahhhhh! Fine you win!"

X.X.X.X.X

She wore purple short shorts and light purple shirt that had hidden pockets to hid her ninja tools

"Okay! Time to go!"

"Kit, aren't you forgetting something?" Kurama snickered

"What would I forget? Hmmmm... Ah! My ninja headband!

X.X.X.X.X

"I'm sorry, minna" Naruto thought.

"I'll never forget those moments with you all …" Naruto thought wistfully. She silently vowed to make new ones with this new life.

She gazed up determinedly at her next targets. Her old teammates, Sakura and Sasuke. The first thing she had to do was get back the bond she shared with her teammates. Naruto put on her best smile as he approached the bickering Sasuke fangirls known as Sakura and Ino.

"Morning Ino, Sakura!" Naruto greeted, slowing to a more casual pace as she approached them.

The two girls gave a quick glance in her direction. Sakura gave an unladylike snort when she realized who exactly was addressing her. Ino was also visibly distressed by the blonde's sudden appearance and wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Naruto, what are YOU doing here? In case you didn't know, you were only supposed to attend class today if you passed the graduation exams." Ino sneered at her.

"Yeah. You couldn't even make one clone." Sakura said, pointing at her mockingly.

"Well, in case you didn't notice, I have a headband on." Naruto smiled, gesturing to her forehead. "I learned a little trick that allowed me to graduate, so here I am."

"No way!" Ino said disbelievingly.

"Yes way. Now if you'll excuse me…"

Naruto went around the two girls and sat in the seat beside Sasuke. The Uchiha paid her no mind and continued to stare straight ahead. Naruto smiled and casually kicked her feet up on the desk to relax. She turned her head towards Sasuke who was trying to burn a hole in the wall with his glare.

"What is it about the wall you find so fascinating?" Naruto asked the boy next to him jokingly. Sasuke grunted in response and closed his eyes.

"Hey! That's my seat, Naruto!" Sakura shouted.

"What are you talking about, Forehead girl? That seat is mine!" Ino countered.

"I'm Naruto, by the way." Naruto smiled, ignoring the girls' prattle for now. She jabbed a thumb backwards. "And in case you haven't noticed, you've got two pretty girls fighting over you."

Sasuke didn't even look at him. Sakura and Ino blushed at Naruto's unexpected compliment, but they were not so flattered as to give up the only remaining seat next to their beloved Sasuke. Just as they were about to start threatening the blonde, Naruto decided to open her mouth. She turned towards the two girls and fixed them with a serious gaze.

"Sorry ladies, it looks like I have some bad news." Naruto frowned at them. "It would appear that our dear friend Sasuke is gay."

"I'M WHAT?" Sasuke shouted, standing up.

The class instantly grew silent. All eyes were suddenly on the Uchiha. It wasn't just because of Naruto's sudden accusation, but it was the first time the stoic boy had ever shown any real emotion in front of anyone. Naruto held her hands up in defense.

"Whoa, no need to get so worked up. I mean it's just something I concluded through observation." Naruto said defensively.

"What are you talking about?" The Uchiha demanded.

"Dude, you'd have to be some kind of homosexual if you don't react to this." Naruto said, gesturing to Sakura and Ino. "Not just them, but almost every girl in the academy literally throw themselves at you everyday and you show absolutely no interest in them. You don't even smile to show you appreciate what most guys envy you for. So I just assumed that you prefer a man's warm embrace rather than a girl's."

"Screw you! I'm straight!" Sasuke yelled, glaring at the girl.

"Some attitude you've got there. I can see that you'll make one man very happy one day." Naruto smirked.

By now, most guys in the rooms were snickering at the uncharacteristically distressed Uchiha and Naruto's wild, if somewhat plausible accusation. Almost all the girls had looks of distress on their faces, almost looking like they believed Naruto. The demon container snickered to herself. This was way better than the original scenario when she had tried to have a staring contest with Sasuke on his desk. That had turned out badly for both of them and she was still disgusted by the memory. This was a lot funnier.

"I-Is it true, Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked fearfully. "Are you really… like that?"

"He's an idiot! Don't listen to a word he says!" Sasuke protested desperately.

"They say denial is the first stage." Naruto taunted, earning horrified gasps from the girls and laughter from the guys.

"Shut up! Why would you think-!"

"Morning class!" Iruka smiled as he stepped into the classroom. He looked completely healthy. Iruka made his way to his desk, he was mildly surprised to find the class in an uproar. "Wow, everyone sure is excited today. Um, Sasuke, is there something wrong?"

"N-Nothing wrong, Sensei." Sasuke replied, quickly regaining his composure and returning to his seat. He quietly folded his hands in front of him. "Nothing at all…"

"Yeah. We just learned something new about our friend Sasuke today." Naruto said loudly, earning chuckles from the majority of the male population of the class and worried looks from the females.

"Shut it, dobe!" Sasuke growled, launching a hard dig on the girl's arm. Naruto chuckled as she rubbed the sore spot on her arm.

"Settle down!" Iruka ordered, fixing the class with a stern gaze. He was a little thrown off by how worked up Sasuke seemed to be, but he felt like he shouldn't question it. "Could everyone please take their seats?"

Everyone sat down. Sakura quickly grabbed the seat next to Naruto, forcing Ino to take the empty one next to Shikamaru. Iruka pulled out a list naming the teams and their jonin teachers. Naruto smiled to himself. He already knew what the teams would be.

"I will now read off the teams you'll be in." Iruka announced. "Team seven under Kakashi Hatake will be Sakura, Haruno… Uchiha, Sasuke…"

"Yes!" Sakura shouted in triumph and joy, earning collective groans and whines from many of the females in the class and an indignant shout from Ino.

"…and Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka finished.

"…Aw…" Sakura groaned when she heard who her third teammate was. Sasuke appeared indifferent while Naruto just shrugged and gave the pink-haired girl a light smile. A few seats below them, a certain Hyuga lowered her head in disappointment.

"This means I won't be with Naruto…" Hinata mumbled quietly to herself.

"Team eight under Kurenai Yuhi will consist of Aburame, Shino… Hyuga, Hinata… and Inuzuka, Kiba." Iruka continued.

Hinata almost fell over in her seat. The girl turned around to glance at her new companions. Kiba sneezed and snorted while Shino sat in his seat looking as emotionless as ever. Hinata sighed to herself. She hoped that she'd get along with them at least.

Ino was more distressed when she found out the lazy Shikamaru and fatboy Chouji were on her team. Later, she'd be far less impressed with her sensei Asuma Sarutobi than she was with her two teammates.

"I'll be giving all of the teams their papers stating where you will be meeting your senseis." Iruka announced after he finished naming the teams. "You are to go to these locations immediately after I have dismissed you all from class."

Iruka proceeded to hand out papers to their respective teams. After doing so, the teacher smiled at the students he'd taught for the past few years.

"I am pleased that so many have graduated this year. I am proud of each and every one of you. I know each of you will grow up to be excellent shinobi." Iruka smiled. His gaze rested on each graduate in the class, though he stared at Naruto for a few extra moments before moving on to the next face. "The path of a shinobi is long and difficult, but I know each of you have what it takes to become great ninja. Good luck to you all. Class dismissed!"

X.X.X.X.X

Class had been dismissed, but team seven was forced to stick around inside the academy due to their sensei. The paper said to meet inside the academy at three o'clock, but their teacher was terribly late. Everyone else had left to meet with their teachers or was picked up, but it was already close to five and team seven's sensei had yet to show up. While this came as no surprise to Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were frustrated by their sensei's lateness.

Naruto remembered what happened before how she set up the prank and thought it would be funny a second time through.

Naruto quickly grabbed a chair next to her and started to stand on it with an eraser and several other objects.

"Naruto! What are you doing!" The menacing voice of Sakura came booming from the other side of the room.

"Playing a prank! This is what our sensei gets for being late!" Naruto said cheerfully.

"Naruto, you shouldn't do that!" Sakura said.

"He won't fall for it, Dobe, he is an elite ninja a Jounin, theer is no way he would fall for such an immature trick,What else do you expect!" Sasuke snorted.

"Yeah! Sasuke-kun is right!" Sakura swooned. 'Who am I kidding? I love this kind of stuff!' Inner Sakura exclaimed.

That was when Kakashi walked in and the eraser nested perfectly on his hair.

Inner Sakura screamed 'Yes! Perfect shot!'

'This is our sensei? Is he even a Jounin? He must be an idiot' Sasuke thought.

"My first impression of you all-" kakashi stopped.

"You guys are a bunch of idiots..." He said.

"WHAT!" Team seven all exclaimed.

...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"You're kidding me!" Sakura screamed desperately.

"Yeah Sakura-chan is right!" Naruto shouted, trying to keep up the act of this being his first time.

Sasuke sat with a stoic face, not wanting to worsen the situation.

"Let's start with introducing ourselves. I'll start, I am Kakashi Hatake. My likes..." the silver haired jonin paused in thought for a moment, "I like a lot of things, and I don't particularly hate anything, and my dream for the future... I haven't really thought about that. Now your guys turn." Kakashi's replied in a manner equally mysterious as his mask.

"All he really told us was his name!" Sakura grumpled.

"You, hyperactive idiot, introduce yourself" Kakashi pointed at Naruto.

"Hey, I'm not an idiot!" Naruto pouted a moment before continuing, "Okay! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I like ramen and training! I don't hate anything! My dreams for the future is to achieve world peace and become Hokage!" Naruto happily exclaimed, adding the world peace dream to honor her friends.

Suddenly her mind flashed back to the future, where she had been just a day ago. A pang of grief tore at her heart, but she did her best not to show it.

Sakura's eyes widened, 'This is the first time I have heard of that... I wonder...'

'He sure has seemed to grow up in a peculiar way, huh, Minato-Sensei, he even has the same dream you did...' Kakashi thought.

"Now you,pinkette" Kakashi nodded at Sakura.

"O-okay, my name is Haruno Sakura, and my l-likes are, u-um I-I mean who I like-" Sakura broke into a fit of giggles while staring at Sasuke. "And I hate NARUTO!" she exclaimed in an exasperated, yet cold manner, "And my dream for the future-" Sakura giggled again, glancing at Sasuke every time she got enough air to breathe from her giggles.

"Now you! The broody one! introduce yourself"

"I'm not broody!" Sasuke replied pathetically.

He still seemed a bit shaken up from earlier.

"Okay now get it over with." Kakashi said with a bored tone, rolling his eye.

"I am Uchiha Sasuke, I don't particularly like anything, and I hate a lot of things. I don't have any dreams, except for restoring my clan and killing a certain someone." his eyes darkened as he finished his introduction.

Sakura looked kind of sad after she heard that he doesn't like anything.

"I feel bad for your wife..." Naruto snorted.

"Why would you say that! Naruto" Sakura cried in a menacing way.

"He said he had to restore his clan, his wife is gonna have to have a lot of babies..." Naruto explained, the corners of her mouth twitching, "Or his husband."

Sakura's face fell and the other two sweat-dropped.

"I told you I'm not gay!" Sasuke snapped.

"Tomorrow is a training exercise and if you don't pass, you will go back to the academy." Kakashi announced.

"What!" They all exclaimed.

"I will explain tomorrow," he said with a bored expression "We will meet at the Academy's training ground at five." Kakashi added.

"Five in the afternoon?! That's really late!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Five in the morning, Sakura." he replied, a hint of laughter in his voice.

"What?! That's too early in the morning!" Naruto shouted.

Because she knew Kakashi well, she knew he didn't plan on getting there until at least 10:00. Still, she will arrive on time, just to get some practice.

"Oh, and don't be late, and I suggest you don't eat breakfast; you'll throw it up." He said to them before using the body flicker jutsu to get leave them gaping.

Sakura gulped, "Is this going to be that hard?"

...

Naruto had arrived at her apartment. Opening her lock, she walked inside her apartment. . . . Major sweat drop.

"K-Kurama! Was m-my apartment always this messy? It looks like a junkyard!" Naruto wrinkled her nose in disgust, looking at the ramen cups that were scattered around, the garbage that decorated the floor, the smell of rotting milk that flourished the room, the stained carpet, the dozens of garbage bags piled into the corner, and the charred stove.

"More importantly, you should come in here; it's important." Kurama said urgently.

"Fine." Naruto said, starting to close her eyes.

When she opened them she stared at Kurama, "So what's so important, fuzball?" Naruto asked, putting her hands on her hips.

The fox just gave a glare and said "Look behind you, kit."

Naruto did as she was told, and she saw... Herself?

"Me?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Now look at yourself." she once again did as she was told but this time, she had her fifteen year old body back.

"My body! It's back to normal!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise, jumping up in happiness.

"Did you wonder where your other self went? Since you went back in time there should be two of you, but have you ever seen your past self? It's as if she disappeared..." Kurama sighed.

"Now that I think about it no!" Naruto knew what Kurama was getting at.

"This is what I came up with, you know how you are small again? You are your past self." Kurama concluded.

Naruto tilted her head in confusion long strands of blonde hair falling into her face, "Now I'm confused." she wondered.

"I'll explain it in a way that even a runt like you can understand. You are in your past life's body and her soul is now stuck in the corner of your mind, but as we know a soul cannot survive in the corner of another's mind, so her soul was shut down and it will be returned to her when you go back to your own time." Kurama ended his explanation.

"U-uh-okay!" Naruto said quickly, glad she wouldn't have a clone of herself running around to cause trouble.

...

"Finally I'm done cleaning this mess!" Naruto exclaimed.

Then she sighed, "A little late though; its already nine... Guess I'll be going to sleep huh."

Quickly, she slid on her favorite pajamas and crawled into bed.

...

Naruto got up early in the morning at six, ate breakfast, and changed her clothes. She wore a pair of black short shorts and her favorite short sleeved, sapphire shirt decorated with jewels. She also wore fingerless light blue gloves, and she wore her head band on her arm for a change. Finally, she put her long blonde locks into a high ponytail that reached close to her knees, similar to Ino's. With a determined smile on her face, she headed out to meet her teammates again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello every one,**

**I'm back with the longest chapter in the history of chapters!**

**I have two things I want to tell you all!**

**First, I owe the quality of this fanfiction to Marcy Charli Zara, but Marcy was the one that beta'd for me!**

**Second, I want to know the pairings of this fic.**

**1- Shikamaru x Naruto**

**2- Chouji x Naruto**

**3- Sasuke x Naruto**

**4- Sai x Naruto**

**5- Neji x Naruto**

**6- Lee x Naruto**

**7- Kiba x Naruto**

**8- Kakashi x Naruto**

**9- Oc x Naruto**

**10- Akatsuki member x Naruto (Please specify who)**

**That is it!**

**on with the chapppeh!**

* * *

Chapter 4

Naruto had arrived two hours late, but not nearly as late as her sensei.

"NARUTO! Why are you so late!" Sakura screamed in a menacing way.

"Because I don't want to be here doing nothing while Kakashi-sensei just gets lost on his path of life." Naruto said, noticing a familiar chakra signature in the tree several meters behind her.

She dared look at it with a smirk on her face.

While holding back a snicker, she added, "Or maybe he isn't as late as we think?" she wanted to torment him.

Meanwhile, Kakashi's eyes widened, surprised she could even locate him. He was an SS class ninja at hiding his presence, so how is it that she located him so easily? She made it seem easy; she was different than what they described in the reports. In the reports, she was lousy at sensing people, plus he wasn't late; they just failed to notice him. Well, Sakura and Sasuke failed to notice him is a better way to describe it. The only reason he was always late was because he wanted to honor Obito... his one true friend.

Back to team 7.

"How did you know he was going to be late? Huh Naruto?" Sakura asked with her hands on her hips in a display of attitude.

Naruto's lips curled into a giant smirk, "Simple, I asked around. I wanted to know our sensei, so I asked jounin and chunnin and they happened to mention that he was always 4-5 hours late, so I didn't want to wait that long. So I too arrived late."

Naruto grinned with pride. She managed make herself look smart.

'Damn it, why didn't I think about that? And when did Naruto get so smart?' Sasuke thought jealously.

And Sakura was impressed. Really impressed; not even she thought of that.

"Of course Sasuke didn't think of doing that!" Naruto mocked in a sweet voice, tormenting him.

Soon after, Kakashi came out of his hiding place.

"Sorry I'm late, I was lost on th-" he was cut off by Naruto.

"Blah blah path of life right? Lets get moving!" she jogged in place with a wide grin.

"Fine, now that we are all here, we can begin the exam."Kakashi said.

Sakura had just about had a nervous breakdown, "But sensei! We already had exams in the academy, shouldn't we be taking missions like other Genin?"

"You see, this isn't an ordinary exam, out of 27 kids in the Academy, only nine will graduate, meaning that if you fail this test, you will be sent back to the Acadamy." Kakashi finished his painfully long explanation.

"Of course Sasuke won't pass." Naruto tormented him once again with a cheshire grin.

"What did you say asshole?!" Sasuke replied.

Sakura had sported a major sweat-drop at the sight of Naruto straddling Sasuke's back, shoving his head into the soil.

"Get off, breast-less!"

"Oh, you did not just go there, dick-less!"

"Are you even a girl?"

"Are you a guy? 'Cause it would be a major problem if you aren't!"

"Shut up, she-hulk!"

"Why you—!"

Kakashi's voice caused Sakura to jump. "Oh my, what are they doing?"

"Having a wrestling match, apparently." Sakura deadpanned.

"Duck-butt!" Naruto screeched as she grabbed a fist full of jet-black hair, "Eat dirt!" she laughed sadistically before shoving Sasuke's face in the grass again.

Kakashi and Sakura sighed.

"Alright, Sasuke, Naruto, we need to get on with the test…" The jounin spoke, increasing his volume to catch the two's attention, "Or we can just drop it so you three fail."

Sakura yelped, before storming to her still bickering teammates. "Naruto! Sasuke-kun!" She bopped their heads this time, "Shut up!"

'So that means I have to pass to kill _him._' Sasuke thought, still running his hand over his head to smooth down his hair.

'THIS is a trial of love! If I don't pass then I won't be able to be with Sasuke-kun!' Sakura thought with hearts in her eyes.

'This will be way to easy, we are going to ace this test.' Naruto smirked.

"You have until noon to get these two bells from me," Kakashi reached into his pocket, rummaging around for a few seconds before he withdrew his hand again, this time holding something.

He opened his hand and allowed two bells, attached to a red string that was hooked over his finger, to dangle, "Now that I'm here, shall we get to it? " he asked cheerfully.

Sakura frowned, seeing a problem with her sensei's apparently 'smart, and well thought out, training excercise' - or survival excercise, as he had called it. "Demo, sensei," she said reluctantly, drawing his attention to her, "there's only two bells...and there's three of us."

Naruto had to refrain from saying a sarcastic comment about pointing out the obvious, but stopped herself, remembering her comment when she first took this test.

Sasuke stared sharply at the sensei, suspicion glinting in his eyes.

Kakashi chuckled evilly, "Exactly. When one of you fails to obtain a bell, you'll automatically be sent back to the academy while the other two will pass," he paused for a moment,"the one who looses will be tied to this post, while the two who pass will get to eat bento" he set two bentos down in front of the memorial stone, putting an alarm clock in between them, "you must come at me with the intent to kill, or you will certainly fail." He received shocked looks at this, but he simply smiled, " You have an hour, get going." he pressed the button on top of the alarm clock.

The three genins disappeared to find hiding places.

Naruto had went to find Sasuke, which after awhile she found him.

"Sasuke, we have to work together." Naruto whispered.

"Why should I work with a failure like you? You'll only slow me down." Sasuke said arrogantly.

Naruto frowned and whispered once again, "Look, this just doesn't add up, he said that 2 kids from each team will pass, but he also said that only nine kids will become Gennin, doesn't that contradict? This must not be the true goal of this test, which leads me to believe that the true purpose of this test is... Teamwork"

Sasuke gaped, he had never, _ever_, seen her talk with that much authority. Never mind talk about something that actually makes sense...

"F-fine I'm with you, but why didn't you ask Sakura first?" Sasuke asked, still trying to hide his surprise.

"Cause, she'd do whatever you asked her to do! So it's easier to ask you [to ask her, since she holds your word above Kami's." Naruto replied innocently, completely contradicting her intentions.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

After rounding up Sakura and explaining to her what to do, they were snickering at their plan. Kakashi finally pinpointed them and saw them doing exactly what he wanted. But Naruto was whispering her plan.

Kakashi cursed—why now of all times did Naruto have to keep her voice down? Did she know he was watching them?

Shaking his head at that, he smiled under his mask. They were finally working together, although he didn't know how that clicked in the Uzumaki's brain. Maybe sympathy? He sighed. Seeing Sasuke's smirk grow wider, Kakashi felt a tiny bit of worry; since when did that stoic boy ever show that much pleasure in something? Naruto's devilish look had only supported the dread running in his veins. As the man tried to look back on his previous observations of the girl, since when did Sakura ever gain such a sadistic expression on her face? He smirked and fingered some kunai a pocket. Things were getting interesting...

"NOW!" Naruto shouted, they disappeared.

Apparently he was tricked by shadow clones, as before he could muse any further, a kunai scraped the side of his clothes, cutting the bells off his body, followed by an orange flash as Naruto sped by and grabbed them.

"We win." Sasuke said climbing out of a bush along with Sakura.

"You guys are officially genin" he said with an eyesmile, "though I am impressed that you realized this was about teamwork. You have surpassed my expectations."

"We did it!" Sakura and Naruto screamed, jumping up and down.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The next three weeks were filled with minuscule missions, ones that Kakashi-sensei said 'built up team work', but Naruto considered the thought that he was purposely torturing them. They'd been tasked with painting a fence for an old lady, though the said fence was about one hundred feet long, so Narutoturned it into a paint war.

Some other torturous missions included:

Baby-sitting little children for a couple who'd gone out for the day, leaving behind their demon triplets.

Delivering food to the Amikichi Clan House.

Bathing the Inuzuka dogs, but Team 7 [had an eye kept on them, as] Naruto had once pulled a prank on the Inuzuka property.

Walking numberous dogs, with Naruto demanding that she take the leashes of the big dogs, only to regret it when they ended up dragging her through bushes and into a mine-testing field.

Fishing was also a mission, which Naruto quite enjoyed because she got to stand at the top of a waterfall.

Still, doing missions lost their fun after the second day of the silly tasks.

For the third week running, Team 7 received the one mission that all ninjas feared doing: The Tora Mission. Tora was the demon in the form of a cat that belonged to the Daimiyo's wife. She was notorious for escaping and evading all attempts at capture, even from the most skilled of ninja. She must run away at least five times a week, some times just after she was caught and taken back to her owners. Team 7 agreed on one thing for the first time ever: the cat was better left alone. Leave it to the wild. Tora's personallity was that of a feral cat anyway. It was a Thursday afternoon, the sun was shining brightly through fluffy white clouds, from in amongst a sea of clear blue.

"Sakura, it's coming your way!" Sasuke said through the ear-piece, watching from his place in a tree as Tora the cat toddled innocently through the forest.

"Are you sure it's Tora?" Sakura's voice came back, slightly static.

"There's a red ribbon on it's neck." Sasuke confirmed.

Naruto's voice crackled over the ear-piece. "It's in my sight, but it's closer to Sakura, so she can handle this." she said happily, leaning against the tree she'd climbed into a few minutes previously.

"Use your code names!" Kakashi's shamelessly cheerful voice chirped over the ear-pieces.

There was silence on all ends until Sakura's voice reluctantly came.

"Pinky here, Tora is closing in on my position."

A familiar giggle told them that Naruto was finding it amusing.

"Shut up, Fox-face! " Sakura raged, but she only received another laugh.

"Brooder here. Shut up, or you'll scare the cat away." Sasuke droned reluctantly.

"Sorry _Brooder_," Naruto said in an mocking, unapologetic voice, "Fox-Face is better, it sounds cool. "

"Tora is heading in your direction, Na-Fox-face!" Sakura reported suddenly.

Naruto looked down from her perch in the tree. The demon cat was indeed passing by her tree.

"I'm on it." she whispered, and pushed away from the tree trunk.

As soon as Tora had walked underneath the tree, she dropped from the branch and to the floor, intent on grabbing the cat. She missed by an inch. She had felt the fur before Tora'd launched herself in another direction.

"Dammit, she got away!" Naruto cursed, "Kakashi-sensei, it's heading your way, I think."

"This isn't my job, Fox-face," Kakashi said brightly, "you catch the cat. Scarecrow out."

Naruto huffed. "What happened to this being team work, huh? You're the sensei. " She didn't expect an answer back from him.

Which was good, because she didn't get one. Sasuke dropped from his tree and approached where Naruto was standing.

"It'll be better if we search for it on ground," he said, assuming the position of leader, like he had been ever since they were team 7.

Neither girl really cared. Well, Naruto did, because the teme was too smug and arragont. But as long as he didn't over step his bounds, then she was fine with him sometimes taking the lead. It saved her the hard work.

Naruto nodded. "Dropping from a tree takes too much time." she muttered, reluctantly agreeing with her rival.

It was then that Sakura joined their little meeting, having decided that Naruto was spending too much alone time with Sasuke. They then set off after Tora.

Ten minutes later, Team 7 emerged from the woods. Kakashi was reading his book, Naruto was nursing a scratch on her cheek, and Sasuke had a few cuts on his arms and legs. Sakura was happily cooing over Tora, who was sitting snuggly in her arms.

"That cat should be put down," Naruto commented, glaring darkly at the ginger ball of evil. " It would be the humane thing to do."

Naruto was beyond furious She had already went through that hell before, and now she had to do it again? That was the thing that was inhumane!

"How is it humane to put a perfectly healthy cat down?" Sakura asked.

"I didn't mean humane for the cat, I meant for us humans," Naruto corrected, "seriously, I swear I've heard of people who are like fifteen years older than us catching that cat back when they were genins." he explained, thinking back to Konohamaru's mission.

Well, maybe not fifteen years, but still... Unnaturally long for a cat.

"That's not possible!" Sakura protested, "normal cats don't live for that long."

"Well, that cat isn't normal, is it?" Naruto said, "that cat is the devil reborn into a small form, sent to torture us."

Sakura turned to their sensei, hoping to get his information on this and to prove Naruto wrong. "Kakashi-sensei, Tora wasn't around when you were young, was she?"

Kakashi didn't answer, too lost in the memories of him and his former team spending hours trying to catch Tora many years ago. The devil in cat form indeed. They soon reached the Hokage's tower, where an eager Daimiyo's wife was waiting in the mission room, looking worried for her little 'smoochums' as she liked to call the cat. As soon as the door opened and Team 7 walked in, she nearly defeaned everyone with her happy shriek.

"Oh, my baby Tora!" She crowed, "come to mummy!" She held out fat arms laden with bingo wings to receive her baby, who began to struggle in Sakura's arms as the pinkette handed ginger mass over.

Sarutobi and Iruka were sitting behind a long desk, with the academy teacher going through missions to be taken.

The Hokage smiled warmly, "Well, let's see what we have next," he said, holding out his hand.

Iruka placed a scroll of D-Rank missions in the old, wrinkled hand, which he began to scan through.

"Next, you have many choices; painting more fences, walking more dogs, feeding the Inuzuka dogs - " He was cut off by a loud scream of "No! Tora! Come back!" from the Daimiyo's wife.

"Or catching Tora again."

Naruto had had enough.

"Iie!" she refused, crossing her arms over her chest in a show of stubborness, "I refuse to do anymore of these missions! They're not missions! They're chores that people are too lazy to do! That old, batty woman wants the fences repainted every single day! She should stick with brown! The Inuzuka's have had dogs for how long? It's their dogs, they can do it! And that cat is an abomonation who should be put down to put us out of our misery!" by the end of this, she was breathing heavily, and glaring angrily. "Give us something better to do!"

Sakura huffed. "Naruto, don't speak to Hokage-sama like that!" she snapped, but went on ignored.

Sarutobi blinked, "You really feel strongly about this." he mused.

Iruka, however, was not as calm as the Hokage.

"Naruto! You can't speak to the Hokage like that! Missions are given ranks for a reason, and genins are given those ranks for a reason..." He continued on with his lecture, but by now, Team 7 had ventured off into their own little worlds, each thinking of something else.

Kakashi chuckled slightly.

"Naruto!" Iruka yelled, bringing everyone back to their senses.

Since it was usually Naruto who ignored him, and who he had been mainly speaking to, he was going to blame her. Three weeks with the other two, and she'd also turned them into people who ignore him. It was bound to happen... Naruto raised an eyebrow, a defiant look still gracing her features. She was going to win this argument.

"Look, sensei," she began seriously, shocking everyone in the room, even the random jounin who had come in to get a new mission, "I get what you're saying, I do, but what I'm saying is that we're ready for a higher level mission! And frankly, sensei, I am quite insulted that you tried to argue against me, because that would be indicating that you think I'm too weak to go on a higher mission!" Que the puppy eyes.

Yes, oh yes, the puppy eyes... she had spent so much time thinking that one up, this way she didn't have to go through to much trouble to get to Tazuna.

'Now, she definitely deserved credit there.' thought an impressed Kakashi, who had even looked up from his book at that point, 'Maybe she _will _become Hokage one day with those skills at talking.'

Sakura blinked. Had Naruto just said something very smart, while imploring to Iruka-sensei's soft spot for her? Sasuke's face did not chance, though on the inside, he was a bit shocked. Iruka's eyes were wide. He was torn between scolding his former student at talking back to him, and then comforting Naruto-chan and assuring her that he didn't think she was weak. Damn girl was tricky. Sarutobi chuckled slightly.

"Hokage-sama, I agree with D-Naruto." Sasuke said, struggling to say his teammate's name instead of the normal 'dobe'.

Sakura now seemed to agree with Naruto, because she actually said it professionally.

"If Sasuke-kun thinks we should do it." she said, nodding her head strongly.

The fan-girl crush was helpful, then. For once, the three were agreeing on something. They were working together to disobey their superiors. To disobey the Hokage. Kakashi couldn't have been more proud. His students were growing up! Seeing that the three genins were not going to give up, and that Kakashi wasn't doing anything to stop them, the Hokage gave up.

"Very well." he said in defeat, looking down to hide the grin that spread onto his face.

"Demo, Hokage-sama!" Iruka immediately protested, but he quickly gave up when he heard Naruto's cough, and was reminded of her little speech.

Naruto smiled triumphantly.

Sarutobi raised a hand. "It's ok, Iruka-san," he said calmly, "If they think they're ready for a higher level mission, then I say we agree. Right, Kakashi-kun?"

Kakashi glanced up from his book. "Hai," he answered shortly [before going] back to his book and letting out a perverted chuckle.

Naruto grinned, "Oh good, I was thinking that I would have had to convince the team to fail every single mission you would have given us... Had you refused me..." she grinned evily.

Everyone gaped at her. Oh yes, she was good.

"Well, we have an escort mission, a C-Rank." Sarutobi said, opening the scroll that Iruka had just passed to him.

"Oh! Oh! really!?" Naruto asked excitedly, "Is it someone important? Like a Lord? Or a Lady? Or a Prince? Come onnnn! Tell meee!" she had to keep up the act right?

She couldn't just sit there looking too unexcited. Sarutobi smiled, taking a chance to sit Down, as it was taking its toll on hisback.

"The bridge builder, Tazuna." he announced.

The door slid open and a man in his late fifties stumbled in, his hair and beard grey and scraggly, his eyes bloodshot and unfocused, and swaying uneasily. but still managed to keep a tight grip on his Sake bottle. A Bridge Builder?

"That's a bridge builder?" Naruto asked, trying to say it in a doubtful way "he's...drunk." her golden eyebrows furrowed.

Sakura frowned as well, wrinkling her nose at the state he was in. Sasuke appeared impassive.

Tazuna turned bloodshot eyes to her, "This is who is supposed to be protecting me?" He slurred, "two snot-nosed kids and a brat."

It took Naruto a few moments to realise that it was her he was calling a brat. It took only a second to launch herself at the bridge builder, yelling profanities at him. A hand just managed to grab the back of her collar, effectively stopping her in her tracks, with her legs still getting splayed in a very comical way.

"Let me go!" she looked up to see who had gotten a hold of her, and a flash of gray told her everything, "Kakashi-sensei, let me go!"

It was the first time that Iruka had ever heard Naruto call another person sensei, and though he felt pride at her growth, he also stung a little to know that she was now relying on someone else.

"Naruto, we do not kill the client, it doesn't work that way," he said matter of factly, as if saying something like that was perfectly normal.

Good, she managed to fool them.

Kakashi turned to Tazuna, "Tazuna-san, I am a Jounin, and I can assure you that no harm will come to you." he said reassuringly, but he would have to keep an eye on his smallest student if he wanted to keep that reassurance.

Tazuna looked doubtful, but he nodded. "I'll meet you at the gate tomorrow morning, eight am." he said before stumbling out of the room.

"I would've preferred someone more like the teme than him, at least I know how to deal with _that_ sort." Naruto rolled her eyes while looking at Sarutobi.

"So, what are we doing exactly?" Naruto put a hand on her hip.

"Escorting him, duh." Sakura retorted, rolling her eyes.

Sarutobi cleared his throat as the two girls began to glare at each other, and it brought their attention to him.

"You'll be escorting him back to the Wave Country, and he'll need protecting from just the thieves and bandits that travel around." he explained, taking a long drag from his pipe.

"Well, why would they attack him? He doesn't look like he's got a penny to his name." Naruto muttered; she spent a good 10 minutes trying to come up with that one, "probably spent it all on sake."

Inner-Sakura snickered at this comment. What she didn't know was that Naruto had come up with these comebacks at home.

"Naruto, don't insult the client." Iruka scolded, but as usual, his former student ignored him.

When it looked as if Sakura was going to start asking questions, Kakashi finally decided to interrupt and he showed an impressive skill of control over them, "Come on, let's leave these two to their jobs, shall we?"

Iruka's jaw dropped when he saw Naruto sigh, roll her eyes, but willingly give up on the grilling. Even he hadn't had that much control over Naru.

"Let's go for some food!" Naruto chirped, and she bounced out of the office.

Kakashi and the rest of the team followed after the small blonde. That left Sarutobi and Iruka staring after them.

"She has you wrapped around her little finger, doesn't she?" A voice said lightly, and both turned their heads to see a young man with spiky brown hair, sparkling green eyes and tanned skin.

He wore a jounin uniform, with his own little flare of black stripped down his legs.

"Chigoku?" Saurtobi asked, " how long have you been standing there? "

Chigoku, a small smirk playing on his lips. "Long enough to know that if that girl wanted every shop to be turned into a ramen store, she'd get it in no time." he said, and with a wink, he left the room.

"He's right..." Iruka sighed pathetically.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Anyone up for barbeque?" Kakashi suddenly asked from [behind] Team 7, who had been walking ahead while staying at least three feet away from each other.

He wondered how long the negative emotions between them would last. Naruto's ears perked up at that, and she turned around so that she was walking backwards to face her sensei.

"If you're paying." she said brightly.

"Doubtful any of you could afford that place at the moment." he said boredly, turning a page of his book.

He would only bail out and leave them to pay at a cheap place, or when they could afford it with combined money. But at the moment, they only got a genin's pay, so he could wait.

"Sure!" Sakura said happily, and immediately turned on the only male genin of the group, "What about you, Sasuke-kun?"

No-one missed the hopeful tone in her voice.

"Hn." everyone took that as a yes from the nearly always silent Uchiha, who only spoke when he ordered them around or to call Naruto a name.

Either way, at least he was talking more than he did in the academy. Team 7 made their way to the barbeque restaurant and found a table in the corner of the room, far enough away from anyone who would interrupt, but close enough to not be ignored by the waitresses.

"I've only ever been for a barbeque once!" Naruto said excitedly, and that caused her to pause momentarily.

She couldn't remember coming here before, but she could have sworn it was very familiar...

"Once?" Sakura asked in disbelief.

She knew that Naruto was an orphan, and didn't have a rich upbringing, but still.

"Really? Was it Iruka-sensei who took you?" Sakura asked with a tone of curiosity.

Narutoshook her head, "Iie, I can't remember who." she said with a shrug.

She had quite a good memory, but there was a big bit of her life that she couldn't remember: the space in between when she was six, up until she was eight. Those two years were curiously blank. Kakashi looked at his smallest student strangely. Just then, the waitress walked over, a bright smile on her face, and a notepad in hand, the pencil poised ready to write.

"Hello, what would you like to order?" she asked, her eyes roaming the table, but once they landed on Naru, they frosted over slightly, giving Naru the feeling that all the people from five years older knew her secret.

"Ribs, please." Sakura said politely.

"Spicy pork." Sasuke said coolly.

Kakashi did not look up, "The same as the brooder," he said, earning a dirty look from the Uchiha, "and you, Naruto? "

"Chicken." avoided the dark gaze of the waitress.

The waitress jotted it all down, bestowed them with a smile that was less brighter than the previous one, and left. The table fell into silence, with only Naru's drumming fingers, and the noise of pages being turned being the sounds that filled it.

"Forehead?" A familiar voice said loudly, and Team 7 looked up to see Ino Yamanaka walking over to the table with her team in tow, the three of them looking noticably worn.

Naru could guess that it was because of Ino and her loud mouth.

Sakura immediately jumped up, " Ino-pig, " she said, hands falling to her sides to clench into fists, "Shikamaru! Chouji!" she greeted her old friends.

To be blunt she was relieved to see them alive, where she come from she... No. They are dead. A pang of grief pierced through her heart. Shikamaru blinked sleepily at her, and Chouji managed a small wave back before his hand dived into his always-present bag of crisps.

Their sensei, Asuma, wandered over to the side of the table that Kakashi sat on and smirked at him, "Treating your team, Kakashi?" he said in a deep voice, with a slight rasp that only came from years of smoking.

"Hai," Kakashi said vaguely, "My team has gone three weeks without killing each other."

Team 7 shared a look. To be honest, that was a big deal for them.

Ino snorted, "Well, you're stuck with Naruto." she smirked, getting a rise out of Sakura.

"Yeah, well your team isn't any better," she snapped back, "at least I have Sasuke-kun!"

This sparked their long time fued over Sasuke, while the rest of Team 8 sat down at the table with the others.

'Invite yourself along.' Naruto thought dryly, moving over to make room for Shikamaru and Chouji who choose to sit on either side of her.

She brought up her other hand so that her chin could rest in the both of them. She looked at Sasuke, who was brooding, at Sakura and Ino, whose voices were slowly rising, and to her sensei, who seemed to be in a conversation that was purely one-sided to Asuma.

"So, how have your missions been going?" Shikamaru asked around a yawn, as if the simple task of talking was once again too much for him.

Considering Shikamaru, it probably was too much of a hassle. He looked ready to drop his head on the table and sleep for a good five hours.

Naruto shrugged, "Good, but..." she said, "they're boring, like chores, but they're missions."

They couldn't be called missions, because they were normal house-hold a villager would normally do. But it got her money that she needed, and adding the fact that this _is_ the second time she went through this.

"Yeah," Chouji said, nodding in agreement. "I heard you delivered food to my clan house the other day."

She made a face at that, "Chores, I tell you, chores." she muttered, and looked around for the waitress who should be bringing their food any time soon, but judging by that look she'd received, the waitress was probably spitting in her food.

A few minutes later, when Sakura and Ino's voices had reached dangerous levels, the waitress returned with a tray carrying their food. Seeing this, Sakura stopped arguing and sent her once-friend a glare, "We'll carry this on later," she warned [sitting] back next to Sasuke, who must've been frozen on the inside as Ino dropped down on the other side of him.

"Here you go." the waitress chirped, setting the plates down on the table before whipping out her notepad and stared expectantly at the others surrounding the table.

After she took their orders, with quite a lot coming from Chouji, which she expected as she knew of the notorious appetite of the Akimichi's - she'd even served them a few times before. She bowed and walked away. Naru happily dug into her barbeque chicken, well aware of Chouji staring hungrily at her food. Once the food of Team 8 had arrived, the only people who were actually talking were the two senseis, and even then, Kakashi only managed a few words in the space of twenty minutes. Somehow, he still managing to eat his food without taking off his mask. Asuma was chatting away, apparently very used to the lack of conversation. Not too long ago, Sasuke had gotten up to go to the bathroom,and when he'd returned, he had sat on the empty side of the table, making it clear that he wanted to be on his own while he ate. Not soon enough did Kakashi decide that it was time for Team 7 to leave, and after bidding Team 8 a good-bye, they departed.

"Stupid Ino-pig!" Sakura scowled at the floor as if it had been the one attempting to sit next to Sasuke, "Just when I thought I had finally won!"

"What do you all want to do now?" Kakashi asked, sounding as though he was just asking out of politeness.

"Well, I for one, am returning home to get cleaned up! I still have dirt on my dress." Sakura said, gesturing down at the small bit of dirt that was flecked on her pink dress.

Sasuke had went without saying a word. Now the only one who didn't go was... Naruto.

"Kakashi-sensei what if I told you that I'm different." Naruto pondered, fingering her chin thoughtfully.

"Of course you are, who else has the nine tails sealed inside them?" Kakashi said, almost amused, expecting her to be surprised that he knew the fact, but he was wrong, she just stood there, with a stoic face.

"That's not what I mean, what if I told you I was from the... Never mind." Naruto quickly disregarded what she was going to say.

She thought about telling him that she was from the future, but she decided against it.

"Okay, I'll be off." Naruto quickly said, leaving a confused Kakashi.

'What happened to her? I'll have to keep an eye out for her future development' he thought.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, after a rather restless sleep and a quick breakfast of instant ramen, Naruto had haphazardly thrown her things in a bag, packing quite a bit since she wasn't sure how long she was going to be gone before leaving her apartment. All her things were hidden under the loose floorboard. She knew that Iruka-sensei would check on her apartment while she was gone and water her first tree, but she couldn't ever be too careful. She met her team-mates at the gate. Sakura looked tired as usual, but her hair was still immaculately brushed and her dress spotless. She also carried an extra brown satchel at her waist. Sasuke, who had a long back backpack on his back, seemed unfazed by the early time. Naruto wondered if he slept at all. Tazuna still wasn't here, which wasn't a surprise either, since she was sure he was lying in his bed, hung over. Kakashi-sensei wasn't there, and once again, no surprise. There was no talking. Only the dirty looks Sakura shot Naruto, as if it were her fault they were up this early. In a way, it was, but Naruto could've argued that Sakura didn't have to agree to take a higher ranking mission. She could've refused. The ninjas on early shift at the gates were looking at the three genins, smirking at their tired looks [while trading their own amusing ones]. What it was like to be a genin again - they didn't miss those days; they didn't miss it not one bit. Another twenty minutes later Tazuna came stumbling towards the gate with no sake bottle in sight. Despite this, it was obvious he was either still drunk from yesterday or his hang over was causing him to stumble. Either answer would fit.

His bloodshot eyes roamed around, settling on them, "Where's that Kakashi person?"

"Path of life." Naruto and Sakura said simultaneously, then looked at each other.

Glares were traded, and then they hastily looked away. It wasn't that Naruto had anything against Sakura, but she just hated past-Sakura! She was so annoying! Tazuna simply looked bemused. An hour later, Kakashi showed up with a big bag on his back, and his book in hand. He looked wide awake and alert. Well, as alert as he could, since he had a bored and sleepy look most of the time.

"Where've you been?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow, expecting the same answer as he had given in the past.

Rather surprisingly, he didn't get it.

"I was rescuing a cat from a tree." he said seriously, choosing to use another excuse as he had started to do a week ago.

He had many up his sleeve, but he didn't want to confuse or annoy his student too soon.

"You're lying!" Sakura screeched, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Maa, maa," he said, waving a hand idily, "Let's go, we don't want to waste day light!" He then walked off ahead, as if he hadn't been the one who had held them all up.

Team 7, after an annoyed silence, followed their sensei.

* * *

That's it!


End file.
